A black purple-tinted pulsating goo in the form of stalagmites blocks Aloy and Link's path. It has an eyestalk with a vertically slit yellow iris within a black pupil, along with tinier eyes attached to it, that follows the duo's movements.

"This is a lot like what those Corruptor machines back in my world used," Aloy winced as she stares at the eye. "Although that was not as gross as what this corruption is."

Link tells her that the substance is called Malice and tells Aloy to stab the eye. She takes out her spear and does so, causing it to shrivel and disappear; along with the black purple-tinged goo. But Malice is heavy in the air as red flankers and tiny tendrils of black mist briefly appear to float about in the air, dimming the interior despite the sunlight streaming in through the open windows. A small Guardian is nearby that the duo are quick to take it out as they each hit it with their respective arrows, tearblast for Aloy and shock arrow for Link, who then collects the parts. The duo take a moment to look around.

They are within a spacious room with a large stationary wheel up above them that has large rudders, and a smaller wheel up off to the left of it that is constantly turning. There is an exit at the back and another room off to their right, with a pool of water next to it closer to the other side as there are chains attached to something and a lever attached to gears on the wall. Over to their left is a much larger pool of water with that barred off room past it. They take a moment to look into the large room to see that it is also an equally spacious curved room with water covering the floor, windows up along the curved wall, and a machine in the back upon a dais that resembles a proper heart.

Link turns around and walks up to the barred off room upon a path that is covered in near knee deep water. Malice stalagmites block his path.

"I see an eye in the water over there," Aloy said a she takes out her war bow and a simple arrow. "Here, let me get that." She takes aim and releases, hitting the eye and making the Malice disappear. Link takes out the Sheikah Slate and creates an ice block at the bars to raise them. He enters and touches the Sheikah Slate to that terminal. Again, Mipha speaks into their minds.

GOOD! YOU'VE OBTAINED THE MAP OF THE DIVINE BEAST. YOU WILL SEE SEVERAL GLOWING POINTS ON YOUR MAP WHICH REPRESENT THE TERMINALS THAT CONTROL RUTA. TAKE RUTA BACK BY ACTIVATING ALL OF THE TERMINALS. BE CAREFUL.

Link leaves and turns to use Magnesis to pull a chest up out of the water and find an ancient spring inside it. He next walks over to the other side where the lever is and once again uses Magnesis to turn the handle, causing the chains next to it to raise a platform and reveal another terminal. He turns that one on, and Mipha is heard again.

THERE ARE FOUR TERMINALS REMAINING. DON'T GIVE UP!

Link next tells Aloy that they must go out the other way and leave through the other exit. Outside, they find that they can go up a ramp on their right, taking them past a pair of Malice stalagmites and up to the top where they can enter a room on their right. Inside, they are confronted by another small Guardian, this one armed with an ancient sword. The duo are quick to attack and destroy it with their handheld weapons this time. Link breaks his Lizal forked spear and takes the ancient sword that small Guardian had attempted to use on them.

They look at the wheel that is turning before them. It is within a pool of water with water flowing ceaselessly out of a raised nozzle next to it so that it pours over its paddles, making the wheel turn ceaselessly. They see another Sheikah Terminal attached to the interior of the waterwheel itself so that it continues turning.

"It looks like you'll have to stop that somehow," Aloy said.

Link takes out the Sheikah Slate and holds it up. There is a moment that he does nothing, until he freezes the flowing water into an ice block so that the wheel stops moving and he can access the terminal that is now rightside up. He places the Sheikah Slate onto the terminal, activating it. Aloy expects Mipha to speak again, and sure enough, she does.

THERE ARE THREE TERMINALS REMAINING. YOU CAN DO IT!

They leave the room through the other exit to come out to another platform on their right, this one with columns and a large blob of Malice blocking their path that also has a mouth with picket fence teeth in it. The mouth spits out a Bokoblin skull that floats toward them.

"Disgusting," Aloy stated flatly as she takes out her spear and stabs it, destroying it. Link notices the eyestalk up above and takes aim with the spiked Boko bow and shoots it. The bow shatters as it had grown weak from constant use. The Malice disappears.

They go up and enter another room on their right that is actually where they first entered Vah Ruta as they are now facing that huge stationary wheel they had seen from below as they stand on a causeway made of metal mesh leading up to it. Within the center of that large wheel is a booth with a Sheikah Terminal but blocked by a grating. Off to their right is the previous room they had been in. On top of the booth is a chest between two pieces of square stone attached to a thick silvery rod. Link is quick to use Stasis on the top stone to freeze it into place so that he can get to the treasure chest and get an ancient core from it. He jumps back onto the causeway and a couple of seconds later, Stasis wears off and the block falls back down.

"Cuttin' it close, aren't we?" Aloy said dryly.

She then scans the paddle wheel and notices something that shows up as a solid color on the terminal's bottom, denoting purpose, along with a glowing sphere like the Sheikah Heirloom, though larger, that she helped to get back at Kakariko Village that is on a thick silvery rod as well.

"I think you need to move that ball on the bottom so that those bars will lift," Aloy said.

Link takes out the Sheikah Slate and brings up the map of Vah Ruta. Aloy watches as Link runs his finger over the screen and Ruta trumpets as a loud clanking sound is heard. They watch on the screen as its trunk rises.

A waterfall flows through the opening from above and onto the wheel, turning it. Link next brings up Stasis and readies to use it. As the booth turns upside down the sphere slides along its metal sleeve and hits the bottom, causing the grating to lift. The wheel continues turning, bringing that sphere ever closer to sliding back down. With just a couple of seconds away from doing that, Link unleashes the Stasis; freezing the sphere into place for a while so that it will not fall. Link tenses as the booth aligns itself ever closer to being rightside up. Any second now, the Stasis will wear off.

At the moment when it is almost level enough, Link dashes inside and activates the Sheikah Terminal, causing the wheel to stop turning for a moment. Mipha speaks.

THERE ARE TWO TERMINALS REMAINING. YOU'RE NEARLY THERE . . .

The Stasis had since worn off, but the grating remains up. The wheel continues turning though and Link jumps out as there are spikes on the roof of the booth. Aloy and Link look around, wondering where next to go. Link tells her as he points out that they will need to go up to their left.

"Then we will need to ride that paddle wheel," Aloy said. "And it's going to have to be back at the previous room."

Link agrees and together they head back to the where the smaller wheel is. Once there, he uses Cryosis to break that ice block he had made to get the wheel moving again. They walk up to where the paddles of the wheels are but a couple of feet from each other everytime their wheels turn. Link explains that they will need to jump onto the smaller one, then onto the big one, and ride it up to the top and be ready to jump. That is when an eyestalk passes them on the large wheel's paddle and Link shoots it with an arrow, revealing a chest. Link tells her to wait as the timing must be right and that he should go first.

Soon, Link jumps to the smaller wheel then onto the large one as it comes up, showing it to be the one with the chest on it. Aloy is right behind. He opens it to find fire arrows. Up ahead, they steady themselves against the downpour of water coming over them. The paddles pass a mere inch from the top, where another small Guardian awaits them armed with a Guardian spear. They dispose of the small Guardian and Link collects its parts and the spear. Link notices a large button and walks over to step on it, releasing a flow of water in front of him. He turns and together they walk down a hallway.

"Did you really need to get that treasure chest?" Aloy quipped with a touch of annoyance. "Granted, there were fire arrows in it, but you could've gotten that later."

They reach what looks like a dead end.

"I don't think this is a wall, or even a door for that matter," Aloy said.

Link takes out the Sheikah Slate and points out the tip of Ruta's trunk to her, telling her that is where the other Sheikah Terminal is.

"That . . . is a difficult place to reach," Aloy said.

Link agrees, then lowers its trunk. There is a moment that the water falls over them, but they are protected by the roof, and the tip almost straightens out. They get a view of the mountains and the lake they are within from up above. Link puts the Sheikah Slate away and next takes a running start and jumps, whipping out his paraglider to sail over to the snout. Aloy watches as he lands upon a platform that is upon the tip and next to the gushing water. He next turns around and shoots an arrow down to destroy an eyestalk, destroying the Malice around there and revealing another chest.

"Oh no, don't tell he's going to . . ." Aloy groaned without finishing that sentence.

But Link turns around and makes the trunk rise. He starts walking, careful to keep in walking momentum with the rising trunk while having to avoid the gushing water at the same time, until the water starts gushing backward and he walks over the side where that alcove is located with the other Sheikah Terminal. He starts it up and Mipha's voice is heard by both of them once again.

JUST ONE MORE TERMINAL REMAINING! I HAVE FAITH IN YOU!

Link jumps toward Ruta and whips out his paraglider. He manipulates it so that he ends up landing down where the chest is and opens it to get an ancient shaft. He next jumps back toward Aloy's general direction.

Aloy had been watching Link that whole time, sighing with whimsical frustration at the sight of him just having to get that treasure chest. Afterward, he jumps off once again and sails toward her, but due to the height he is at he will land above her. Aloy takes out her grappling hook and attaches it to an arrow head and shoots it up over the forehead of Ruta. It catches upon something and she pulls herself up the rope. She manages to reach the top and pull herself up. Up above on one of a pair of platforms across each other, Link stands.

"Hey Link!" Aloy called, then points. "There's an opening right there! I think we can enter through there!"

Link calls back okay and tells her that he will be over there just after he gets the chest behind him. First off, he shoots the eyestalk on the other side to get rid of the Malice, then goes and opens the chest. He next runs and sails down to Aloy, telling her that he found ice arrows.

"Glad you could make it," she quipped, then glances at the opening. "So, after you then."

Link jumps down and moves aside and Aloy follows after him. They find themselves on a structure that has two ramps on either side but is wide open to below where the last Sheikah Terminal is, only that it is surrounded by jets of fire. At the back is a crankshaft and more Malice, including an eyestalk and a mouth that spits a cursed Bokoblin at them. Aloy is quick to destroy the eyestalk with an arrow and then the cursed Bokoblin. Link takes out the Sheikah Slate and uses Magnesis to turn the crankshaft that opens a pair of doors above them.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Aloy mused whimsically.

Link moves Ruta's trunk higher and water next cascades onto the Sheikah Terminal, putting out the fire. Link lowers Ruta's trunk to remove the waterfall. The duo go down the ramps and to the bottom before the terminal, where Link activates it. Mipha is heard once again.

YOU ACTIVATED ALL THE TERMINALS! NOW YOU CAN START THE MAIN CONTROL UNIT. THERE SHOULD BE A NEW GLOWING MARK ON YOUR MAP. HEAD THERE! BE CAREFUL NOT TO LET YOUR GUARD DOWN.

"I think it must be that room near where we first entered Ruta," Aloy said. They turn to look over the edge to down below. Just beneath them is a ledge with a chest that Aloy and Link drop down to and he opens to find a knight's halberd.

"It looks like we can jump into the water down below," Aloy said.

And she jumps to splash down into the water. Aloy emerges from the water and looks up to see Link sailing across the room, then turn around and sail toward her; save that he lands upon the partition wall separating the main control unit room from the rest. She watches him open a chest that she had actually noticed earlier but said nothing about it.

Really! She sighed to herself while shaking her head. Does he really need to get that treasure chest?!

Link glides back down to her and tells her that he found a silver rupee, worth two hundred green rupees, in that one and he shows it to her.

"Fine, now let's get this Divine Beast working properly again," Aloy grumbled, then turns to enter the room.

They walk down into knee deep water and up to the main control unit.

"I got a bad feeling about this," Aloy said, and Link agrees.

Link walks up to the central control unit with the Sheikah Slate out and touches it against its pedestal. A blast of misty Malice gushes out of the pedestal with a roar, causing the duo to back away in a hurry. The Malice envelopes the central control unit.

"I knew this wasn't going to be easy," Aloy exclaimed sarcastically.

Tendrils of blue light flow past them and they turn to see it coagulate into a blue ball. That blue ball begins to take a massive form made of Malice and the yellowish mineral that composes what is part of the Divine Beast and Sheikah Shrines. It is vaguely humanoid with a skeletal torso that hovers leglessly via that yellow casing. Its head resembles a metal crude Y-shape with a constellation on it and single techno eye in its center surrounded by a thick red mane. Its right arm ends in a claw-like hand, but its left arm is thicker and ends in a massive handle that has an equally massive blue light beam formed into a trident.

Aloy gawks in horror at the being. Its coloration reminding her of Hades. But Hades was created by humans, while this monster is beyond her understanding. She reads the creature, but it comes up as unknown.

The creature makes a shriek that feels terrible to hear, shaking her courage.

"And I thought Hades was horrible!" Aloy clamors as she takes out her hunter bow and readies a tearblast arrow. Mipha is heard once again in their heads.

PLEASE TAKE CARE. THAT . . . THING IS ONE OF GANON'S CREATIONS. I PUT UP AS MUCH OF A FIGHT AS I COULD, BUT IT PROVED TO BE MY DEMISE ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO . . . REGARDLESS . . . I BELIEVE THAT YOU TWO ARE WELL PREPARED FOR THIS MOMENT. I HAVE FAITH IN YOU BOTH . . . CAREFUL! THAT SPEAR HAS A LONG REACH.

The Waterblight Ganon throws the massive spear at Aloy and Link, compelling them to roll out of the way and for the spear to stick into the floor behind them. Aloy launches a tearblast arrow at the Waterblight, hitting it in its torso and causing it to explode. The Waterblight staggers and Link releases a shock arrow, making it fall.

Link yells at Aloy to take out her spear as he takes out the ancient short sword. Together they run as fast as they can up to the still dizzied Waterblight and hack and stab it. The Waterblight turns into a blue ball of light and flies away from them to reform on the other side of the room. Again, Aloy and Link launch their respective arrows at them, shock and tearblast. And again, the Waterblight falls for them to attack with their melee weapons. Link's ancient sword shatters and he next uses the Guardian spear. The Waterblight again turns into that blue light ball and flies away from them to hover before the main central unit. This time it shrieks as it raises its hand as a blue light appears in it and the water level in the room rapidly begins to rise. The Waterblight next turns upside down and attaches itself to the ceiling.

"Oh yeah! We're winning!" Aloy shouted. "Because this thing is starting to fight dirty!"

Though as the water rises, four platforms float up as well. Mipha is heard.

CAREFUL. NOT MUCH ROOM TO OPERATE.

"I think she's looking out for us!" Aloy called confidentally as they swim to a platform.

They get upon one of the platforms, ready to confront the Waterblight with their arrows. The Waterblight hurls its spear at them and they just barely miss being struck by it as they jump aside and into the water. It swings its right arm and an ice block rises up from the water and flies toward the duo. Link uses the Cryosis to bust that ice block. The Waterblight swings its blue weapon and Link and Aloy jump just as it passes underneath their feet. They take aim at the Waterblight once more and shoot their arrows. It turns into a blue ball and flies elsewhere in the room to reappear up at the ceiling. It sends five ice blocks toward them and Link is quick to eliminate them with the Cryosis. They assail it with their respective arrows and the Waterblight moves elsewhere once again.

Aloy attempts to take out another tearblast arrow, only to discover that she is out of them. So she decides to use fire arrows next. It does not do as much damage as her tearblast arrows had done, but it does help, especially when Link releases more shock arrows at it. The Waterblight falls once again.

GO! NOW!

Link and Aloy jump off the platform as far as they could. They each only have a few strokes to take to the other platform where the Waterblight lies. They quickly crawl upon the platform in arms reach of the Waterblight. Any second now, it will recover and fly away from them as a blue light ball. Aloy takes out her spear as Link takes out the Guardian spear. They both stab and hack with a greater ferocity born out of defeating this thing as quickly as possible.

Aloy stabs it deep as Link does the same, destroying the Guardian spear in the process. The Waterblight rises as it screams in defeat while convulsing.

"I think it's gonna blow!" Aloy shouted as she jumps away into the water with Link close behind. They swim far enough away and look back.

The Waterblight screams long and loud as Malice gushes out of it and finally explodes into an ever expanding ball of purple light that causes Aloy and Link to look away. They feel the diminishing Malice wash over them and vanish. It goes dim again and they look. The water also begins lowering as their feet touch bottom once again.

The water continues lowering until it is back to knee depth. The Malice mist engulfing the central unit device fades away.

"Now that this battle is over with," Aloy said as she walks up to the central unit device, then turns to Link. "I think you should turn that machine on."

Link nods and walks over to the pedestal as he takes out the Sheikah Slate and touches it to the pedestal.

"Hello, Link, Aloy," Mipha said as her voice is now heard with their ears and from a source. They look to see her nearby. A female Zora surrounded with blue lights, denoting her as a spirit, and does appear to be more exotic than the other Zora.

"You know my name?" Aloy said, then attempts to read her, only to see an outline in her focus that reads unknown energy signature.

"Indeed," Mipha answered. "Because of Link's courage and yours, my spirit is now free. And Ruta, as well. Thank you both. For I am now allowed by this freedom to be with Link once again. Since I am now a spirit my power would be wasted on me. I have no need of it. So therefore . . . I would like you to have it, Link. Please accept . . . Mipha's Grace."

Mipha sends a blue orb of light flying at Link that goes into him. Link begins to glow and levitates for a moment, before he drops back down once again.

"Yesterday, I was awashed in a pool of tears," Mipha sighed. "I had nearly given up hope and resigned myself to being trapped here as a spirit, for the rest of eternity. But now you're here. All this time, my hope . . . was to see you, Link, once more. Promise me that you will not hesitate to call upon my power if you and Aloy ever find yourselves in need. Knowing that . . . will let my spirit rest in peace. I must go. Ruta and I have our roles to fulfill. We are both honored to be able to play the role of support. We'll annihilate Ganon together. Farewell. Save her, Link, Aloy. Save the princess . . . Save Princess Zelda."

A yellow glow begins to envelope Aloy's vision as she watches Link also being overwhelmed by that yellow glow. Aloy watches as he begins turning into light motes while her own vision fades to yellow and feels herself coming apart.


Note:

I have decided not to have a heart be presented to them whenever they defeat a Blight.